The exhibition Strengths and Convictions uses South Africa’s turbulent history and heterogeneous culture as a background to the ordinary yet extraordinary lives of the four South African laureates. It depicts how the lives of these four remarkable men converge and divide as South Africa’s history unfolds. In the process, this exhibition aims to reflect the different paths each man chose to find a political resolution for their country.
Strengths and Convictions weaves together a collection of portrait photographs, seven short documentary films and more than 80 contemporary works of art, into the cultural and historic tapestry of the laureates’ lives.
The exhibition opens 25 November by the Her Majesty Queen Sonja, as part of Their Majesties The King and Queen of Norway’s State visit to South Africa.
- Our ambition is that this exhibition adds new perspectives to the remarkable stories of the South African Peace Prize laureates, says Bente Erichsen, the Director of the Nobel Peace Center
The artwork in Strengths & Convictions includes master pieces by Feni Dumile, Gerard Sekoto, William Kentridge, Marlene Dumas, Sam Nhlengethwa and Willie Bester, and new works by emerging artist Araminta de Clermont. Their work helps to constructs the cultural background to the laureates' lives and reveals the cultural zeitgeist of apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa.
-The elements of the exhibition have been chosen for their ability to transmit cultural and political readings of the realities of South Africa, in the past and in the present, says the exhibition curator, Gavin Jantjes.
A timeline of 100 years of South African history aims to provide insight into the circumstances that motivated the laureates to act for peace, democracy and societal change. Following the exhibition is also a fully illustrated book with an introduction by the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and essays by the author and professor Antjie Krog, justice Albie Sachs, and exhibition curator Gavin Jantjes.
The Nobel Peace Center and the Iziko Museums of Cape Town intend to offer a broad public educational program to support the exhibition. The aim is maximizing attendance and active engagement with youth audiences. Over and above the normal guided tours requested by school groups the program will specifically focus on young audiences that have never been to the National gallery before. Moreover the exhibition provides a good basis for teaching the history of South Africa more specifically.
The exhibition is an initiative of the Nobel Peace Centre in Olso Norway in collaboration with the Iziko South African National Gallery. It opens at the Iziko South African National Gallery, Government Avenue, Cape Town on the 26th November 2009 and closes on the 28th February 2010 and will open at the Nobel Peace Centre in May 2010.
Enquiries: Joe Dolby Tel: 021 467 4682 Email: jdolby@iziko.org.za
Compiled by
Athena Sotomi
082 333 15 28
Linda Netland, Information Director at the Nobel Peace Center, +47 90 50 21 60, ln@nobelpeacecenter.org
